The present invention relates to a manufacturing system for small planing watercrafts, wherein after an engine is mounted on a hull, a deck is attached by adhesive bonding to the hull to thereby produce a small planing watercraft.
Small planing watercrafts of the type including a jet pump mounted on a rear portion of the hull are known. The jet pump is driven by an engine to pump up water from the bottom of the hull and subsequently eject the pumped water rearward to thereby propel the watercraft forward. A conventional manufacturing system used for producing such planing watercrafts will be described with reference to FIG. 9.
As shown in FIG. 9, the conventional small planing watercraft manufacturing system 200 has a straight or rectilinear travel path 203 along which carriers 202 travel with hulls 201 carried respectively thereon. In the straight travel path 203, a hull loading station 207, an engine mounting station 208, an adhesive applying station 209, a deck assembling station 210, a clamping station 211, a curing station 212 and a watercraft unloading station 213 are disposed in the order named as viewed from a supply end 205 toward a discharge end 206 of the travel path 203.
For assembly of a small planing watercraft 215, a hull 201 is placed or loaded on each of the carriers 207 at the loading station 207. The carrier 202 with the hull 201 supported thereon is then transferred along the travel path 203 to the engine mounting station 208. At the engine mounting station 208, an engine 216 is mounted on the hull 202. The hull 202 carried on the hull carrier 202 is further advanced along the travel path 203 to the adhesive applying station 209 where an adhesive 217 is applied to a bonding portion of the hull 201. Thereafter, the hull 201 is transferred by the carrier 202 to the deck assembling station 210.
At the deck assembling station 210, a deck 218, which is standing by on the right side of the deck assembling station 210 with parts or accessories mounted thereon, is placed on the hull 201. Thereafter, at the clamping station 211, the hull 201 and the deck 218 are damped together so that respective bonding surfaces of the hull 201 and deck 218 are closely fitted with each other via the adhesive 217. The hull 201 and deck 218 thus clamped are fed to the curing station 212 where the adhesive 217 is caused to cure to thereby firmly joining the hull 201 and the deck 218 together. A complete small planing watercraft 215 is thus produced.
The complete small planing watercraft 215 is transferred to the unloading station 213 where the watercraft 215 is discharged to an inspection area 219 which is provided contiguously with the discharge end 206 of the travel path 203. At the inspection area 219, the complete small planing watercraft 215 is tested for water jet performance. If the test results are satisfactory, the small planing watercraft 215 will be forwarded to a subsequent processing station (packaging station, for example) for storage or shipment.
In the conventional manufacturing system 200, the carrier 202 becomes empty when the small planing watercraft 215 is discharged from the unloading station 213. In preparation for the next loading process, the empty carrier 202 is returned to the loading station 207 through a carrier return path 220. The foregoing processes are repeated until a desired number of small planing watercrafts 215 are produced.
Since all of the stations 207-213 are disposed in the straight travel path 203, the entire length of the travel path 203 is relatively large. The conventional manufacturing system 200 having such long travel path requires a relatively large space for installation thereof.
Additionally, since the carrier 202 becomes empty at the unloading station 213 which is located at one end (discharge end 206) of the straight travel path 203, the carrier return path 220 extending from the one end to the other end (supply end 203) of the straight travel path 203 must be provided to return the empty carrier 202 to the loading station 207 which is located at the supply end 205 of the straight travel path 203. To insure continuous processing of the watercrafts 215 along the stations 207-213, a certain large number of empty carriers must be present on the carrier return path 220. With this requirement, a total number of carriers 202 used on the conventional manufacturing system 200 is relatively large. Due to the necessity of the carrier return path 220 and use of an increased number of carriers 202, equipment cost of the conventional manufacturing system 200 is considerably large.
In order to reduce the equipment cost, an attempt may be made to reduce the number of carriers 202 used in the manufacturing system 200. However, attempted reduction in number of the carriers 202 will give rise to a problem that, due to an insufficient number of empty carriers returned to the loading station 207, the productivity of the manufacturing system is considerably reduced.
It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a manufacturing system for small planing watercrafts, which requires a relatively small space for installation thereof, can be constructed at a relatively low equipment cost and is able to produce small planing watercrafts with increased efficiencies.
To achieve the foregoing object, according to the present invention, there is provided a manufacturing system for small planing watercrafts, comprising a plurality of hull carriers, a closed loop-shaped travel path along which the hull carriers travel in succession, a hull loading station for loading a hull on each of the hull carriers, an engine mounting station for mounting an engine onto the hull, an adhesive applying station for applying an adhesive to a bonding portion of the hull, a deck assembling station for assembling a deck onto the hull such that a bonding portion of the deck comes face to face with the bonding portion of the hull, a clamping station for clamping together the respective bonding portions of the hull and deck with the adhesive held therebetween, a curing station for causing the adhesive to cure, with the bonding portions being kept clamped, to thereby firmly join the bonding portions to form a complete small planing watercraft, and a watercraft unloading station for unloading the complete small planing watercraft from the hull carrier. The hull loading station, engine mounting station, adhesive applying station, deck assembling station, clamping station, curing station and watercraft unloading station are disposed in the closed loop-shaped travel path in the order named with the hull loading station and the watercraft unloading station located adjacent to each other.
Since all of the processing stations are disposed in succession along the length of the closed loop-shaped travel, the manufacturing system is smaller in length than the conventional manufacturing system having a straight travel path. Additionally, since the hull loading station and the watercraft unloading station are located adjacent to each other, it is possible to return an empty hull carrier from the watercraft unloading station to the hull loading station in a short time. This will increase the productivity of the manufacturing system. Use of the closed loop-shaped travel path makes it unnecessary to provide a separate carrier return path as done in the conventional manufacturing system. Adjacent arrangement of the hull loading station and the watercraft unloading station that can be realized by the use of the closed loop-shaped travel path is able to reduce the total number of hull carriers used in the manufacturing system. Thus, the manufacturing system can, therefore, be constructed at a relatively low cost.
The manufacturing system may further include a plurality of deck carriers, a second closed loop-shaped travel path along which the deck carriers travel in succession, a deck loading station for loading a deck on each of the deck carriers, a deck parts assembling station for assembling deck parts onto the deck, and a deck unloading station for unloading the deck from the deck carrier before the deck is assembled on the hull at the deck assembling station. The deck loading station, parts assembling station and deck unloading station are disposed in the second closed loop-shaped travel path in the order named with the deck unloading station located next to the deck assembling station.
Due to the use of the closed loop-shaped second travel path, the deck loading station and the deck unloading station can be located adjacent to each other. This arrangement enables return of an empty deck carrier from the deck unloading station to the deck loading station in a short time, which will increase the productivity of the manufacturing system. In addition, since the travel path and the second travel path are arranged with the deck loading station located next to the deck assembling station, it is possible to convey the decks to the deck unloading station in synchronism with the conveyance of the hull to the deck assembling station. This arrangement further increases the productivity of the manufacturing system.
In one preferred form of the present invention, the curing station includes at least one pair of curing units disposed in direct opposite relation across the travel path for receiving a preassembled watercraft composed of the hull and the deck being clamped together at the respective bonding portions, so as to cure the adhesive held between the bonding portions, and a turntable located on the travel path and disposed centrally between the pair of curing units for rotary motion through an angle of 90 degrees to ensure that the preassembled small planing watercraft is allowed to be supplied into or discharged from either one of the curing units. Since the curing units are arranged crosswise the travel path, the curing station is able to reduce the length of the travel path. Additionally, since one of the curing units is disposed inside the loop-shaped travel path, the space of the manufacturing system can be used efficiently.
Preferably, the curing units each include a generally U-shaped frame for accommodating therein a major part of the preassembled small planing watercraft with the watercraft carried on the hull carrier, a gate that can be opened and closed to allow the watercraft to be introduced into or discharged from the curing unit with a fore-end or a rear-end of the preassembled watercraft directed forward, and a hot air blower mounted on the frame and the gate for directing hot air onto the bonding potions of the hull and deck being clamped, so as to heat the adhesive to cure.
The deck carrier may include a deck reversing means for reversing the deck while supporting the deck in a horizontal plane on the deck carrier. The deck reversing means preferably comprises a first grip member for gripping a fore-end portion of the deck, and a second grip member for gripping a rear-end portion of the deck, the first and second grip members being rotatably mounted on two opposed vertical support members of the deck carrier such that the grip members are rotatable about a common horizontal axis extending between the vertical support members. The deck reversing means enables a human operator to assemble deck parts or accessories on both of a front side and a back side of the deck without being forced to take uneasy postures.
The manufacturing system may further comprise a transfer machine disposed between the deck unloading station and the deck assembling station for unloading the deck from the deck carrier at the deck unloading station, then moving the deck from the deck unloading station to the deck assembling station, and finally placing the deck on the hull carried on the hull carrier at the deck assembling station. The transfer machine thus provided lowers the work load on the human operator.